Obama Starts With 68% Job Approval

One of the better initial ratings of post-World War II presidents

PRINCETON, NJ -- In the first Gallup Poll job approval rating of his administration, President Barack Obama receives a 68% approval rating from Americans.

The survey was conducted from Wednesday through Friday, Jan. 21-23, spanning Obama's first three full days on the job. Only 12% of Americans disapprove of how he has performed thus far, while 21% have no opinion.

A more thorough discussion of Obama's initial job approval ratings and the historical context for them will be published on gallup.com on Monday, Jan. 26.

Gallup is tracking Obama's job approval rating daily, and will be reporting it daily on gallup.com on the basis of three-day rolling averages.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,591 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Jan. 21-23, 2009. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones (for respondents with a land-line telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell-phone only).

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

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Barack Obama’s approval ratings have been very stable in the month of March so far, and his current 61% approval rating is more positive than the 58% rating for George W. Bush and the 53% rating for Bill Clinton in mid-March of the first years of their administrations.

President Barack Obama remains highly popular among the U.S. public at the end of his first month in office, with 63% approving of his job performance. However, his approval rating has dipped since January, diverging from the usual pattern for new presidents.

Only 17% of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the country; 80% are dissatisfied. These ratings are hardly any better than those seen before the presidential election. Although satisfaction among Democrats has improved, it also remains low.